


Well. Shit.

by TheUnnamedOne



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: And a lot of sleep, Anders Needs a Hug, Blood, Blood Magic, Eventual Everything, Eventual Relationships, Fenris is a mother hen, I'm so sorry, Mages, Mages are assholes tbh, Maybe a bit more than minor, Merrill being Merrill, Minor Anders/Hawke, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rogues are awesome, Slow Build, Temporary Amnesia, Tevinter, This is a damn long story, What Have I Done, eventual Inquisition, so much blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-06-02 19:17:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6579121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUnnamedOne/pseuds/TheUnnamedOne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe there was a time when mages didn't do blood magic. Maybe there was time when Hawke took things seriously. Maybe, just maybe, there was a time when the entire damn world wasn't falling apart. But this is not about that time. This is about...well. This is about what happens when you play with blood magic kids. Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride.</p>
<p>*Disclaimer: I am absolutely horrific at writing summaries*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So before we begin I'd like to make a few things clear. First off, there will be Male!Hawke and Female!Hawke. It is necessary for a part of the plot line later. Second, Anders is going to be portrayed terribly in this and I am so sorry for any hardcore Anders fans. Third, this story will be super damn long. If you're alright with that then read on! 
> 
> *I am still editing and adding and I'm pretty much making this up as I go along*

Chapter One

_“What has magic touched that it hasn’t spoiled?”_

“Hey, hey calm down it’s ok we’re here to help.”

“Hawke. She very clearly does not wish for you to touch her.”

“I’m going to pretend that isn’t offensive.”

“That’s not what I …. ugh. You are a mage, Hawke. And she doesn’t seem to be too fond of mages.”

Dull Green eyes stared in complete terror at the two men in front of her. They killed the mages hurting her. One of them with magic. Somewhere in the back of her mind she recognized that obviously they weren’t going to continue with the ritual, but at that point in time her fear overwhelmed any other thought she had and the only thing she could register was _‘mage. That’s a mage. He’s going to hurt me.’_

“Just… just step away from her. Go see if Anders needs help or something. I’ll see if I can calm her down.”

“Alright bossy. Work your Elven magic.” She flinched and the black haired man walking away from her turned back with a scrunched face with detailed worry. “Ah. That sounded terrible. He’s not a mage. I am but he’s not. He actually hates mages you know. Uh. I was making a joke. Bad timing I guess since you—“

“Hawke!”

“Right, right, sorry!” He jogged off and the Elf sighed deeply with his face in one armoured hand.

“I apologise. My…companion doesn’t always take everything seriously.” He walked forward slowly, stopping when she tensed and continuing when she appeared to relax a bit. “My name is Fenris. Would you like me to help free you from that chair?”

 Her eyes shot down to look at her arms bound to the armrests of a wooden chair. They were covered in blood and her skin felt stiff and heavy. She felt her eyes well up looking at them; she closed them and nodded once, not wanting to see what state the rest of her body was in.

“Ok. I’m going to undo the chains now. Just relax. I’m not going to hurt you.” He went about the task without another word and when her arms and legs were free she could feel him moving away to give her some space. She finally opened her eyes.

“What’s your name?” Fenris stood completely still; his eyes remaining on the terrified girl for the most part, though they did glance around the room a few times. “Were you a slave?” She looked at the anger in his face and shook her head. “Not a slave. Why were you brought here?”

It was all so fuzzy. What _was_ she doing here? She didn’t know. All she knew was the ritual. And the mages. She looked at the blood on her hands and felt a few tears run down her cheeks. Why couldn’t she remember? Her jaw opened and closed a few times and she pointed at the dead bodies on the floor. Fenris looked at them and then turned back to her. “Did they bring you here?” She nodded and tried to stand; she felt so incredibly weak, her legs were soft and her hands started to shake from the effort. Just before she fell an arm wrapped around her waist and one of her arms was carefully placed over his shoulders. “Sorry. I acted without thinking. I can find some place for you to sit if you like?”

She concentrated on breathing, on not feeling the heat coming from another person’s skin on hers; concentrated on keeping the vomit from escaping up her throat. _Breathe in. Don’t think. Breathe out. Don’t think. Breathe in. Don’t think. Breathe out._ She shook her head and pointed at the door while stiffly moving her feet forward. She wanted to leave this place. “Okay, I understand. Just take it slow okay? You’ve lost a lot of blood.” They began the inch-by-inch trek out of the death filled room. She didn’t look back. _Breathe. Don’t think. Breathe._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Most of these pages seem to be in some kind of code I think. Either that or whoever wrote them was absolutely insane.”

“Eh maybe a bit of both. I guess you’d have to be insane to be performing blood rituals in a creepy run-down mansion in the middle of a swamp.”

“Hawke. It’s not a swamp.”

“Well whatever, flooded garden, overgrown cemetery, out of control pond. My point still stands.”

“Out of curiosity is there any place to perform a blood ritual that doesn’t show you’re insane?”

Hawke stopped sifting through the books on the desk. “Definitely on a beach. Or maybe not. The sand would get everywhere. Demons would be so insulted being summoned with sand blood. Maybe in a room full of cushions. Then again I guess all the blood would soak into the cushions and the ritual would be ruined. Oh wait no I got it. Definitely in a --”

Anders shook his head and sighed. “Forget I asked.”

“Well anyway. These guys were clearly insane. Look at this page.” He brought the open book over to Anders.

On the page were recipes for poultices, combined with small spells to make the mixtures more effective. Hawke read out the notes next to each recipe in a dramatic and deep voice. “’ _No changes to mental state. Still insists we’re wrong. The truth will be known eventually. Just need a bit more time for her to realize.’_ So, they were trying to brainwash someone with a poultice? Creepy. Ooooh this ones worse. ‘ _She’s been screaming for 4 days. The blood will be tainted if this continues. Potion ineffective in producing results, only makes her scream until she is choking out blood. Had to heal her throat before she drowned.’_ See? Insane. And that’s actually really gross. What a terrible potion. Or how bout this –“

“Maker, give me the book Hawke.” Anders flicked through the various notes on the recipes in silence while Hawke crossed his arms and tapped his foot. “Well the notes don’t appear to be written in any particular order. The only thing I can really tell from this is that they were attempted to find a while to make the sacrifice willing. None of these ended up working I’m guessing, but I can look through it more clearly at the clinic.” Anders put the book with the others that they would take with them. “See if you can find anything about the symbols on the walls. I’ve never seen them before and they were all over that room.” He resumed looking through the pages.

“I suppose I can do that. We really should have brought Merril. She knows more about this than –“

“Hawke! You might want to come look at this!”

They both stopped and looked at the door leading the upper level. “Varric?”

“Seriously. Come up here and look at this.”

Hawke shrugged and quickly walked up with the stairs with Anders close behind.

“You know, Varric, it’s really creepy hearing my name being yelled out in this place; you could have come down to get me.” He nearly ran into the dwarf when he turned the corner at the top of the stairs. “What’s so ur…gent…. holy…” His voice trailed off as Anders came to stand next to him in the doorway of a large bedroom. Varric looked up at Anders.

“Hey Blondie, how much blood do you think is in the human body?"

The two mages stood completely still, staring in shock at the buckets lining the floor. Anders finally found his voice and walked forward with a disgusted look. “Um. Barely a buckets worth. Maybe. It uh, it would depend on the size of the person.”

“Well. How many buckets are here?”

He began counting silently when Hawke whispered “36. There’s 36 buckets here.” Clearing his throat and steeling his resolve Anders gingerly dipped his finger into one of the buckets. “It’s uh. It’s cold but still fresh.”

“Right. Now here’s the creepier part. Where are all the bodies?” Varric walked out of the room to explore the rest of upstairs. “I haven’t found any, and frankly I’m not really sure I want to. I had to pick through 5 locks to get to that room full of blood; these guys were crazy possessive about not letting anything happen to it.”

Hawke nodded, for once not having anything to say. He simply watched as Anders carefully went around examining all the buckets in the room. The blonde mage eventually walked back to the doorway with a disturbed expression. “Hawke. All of this blood is fresh. They would have had to kill over 40 people to harvest this much blood. Also the symbols in this room are the same as where we found that girl. What is going on here? Hawke?” Anders touched the mans elbow and that seemed to break him out of the daze.

“Uh. I guess I’m going to go on a hunt for bodies then? See if we can get an identity off any of them. Their families would be worried I guess.” He cleared his throat and headed back downstairs. Anders stared once more into the room before closing the door and following.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I don’t know how long they’re going to be. We can go outside if you’d like?” Fenris had set the young girl down on a seat by the entrance. She was panting and leaning heavily on the wall with glazed over eyes; clearly she hadn’t moved in quite a while. The elf crouched in front of her and carefully looked her over. There were cuts along her arms, bruises on her wrists and throat, and her clothing looked closer to a thick layer of dust than actual fabric. “How long have you been here for?” The question was whispered, he didn’t really expect a response. The girl had understood his questions but it didn’t seem as if she was going to speak.

Fenris stood and started to pace slowly. She wasn’t a slave; she appeared to have been here for a while; and those mages were definitely from Tevinter families. He had recognised some of the house crests on their clothing while he and Hawke had killed them. He frowned, thinking back to the fight. It hadn’t been much of a fight. The mages didn’t seem to be very strong, which didn’t make sense since they had been in the middle of performing blood magic. He glanced at the girl. It also seemed like they were only taking blood from her, and slowly. _‘Not trying to kill her then. What were they doing with her?’_

“Oh is this her?” Varrics voice came from behind him and Fenris stopped pacing. The dwarf walked over slowly, not wanting to frighten her; though it didn’t seem to matter as she was still staring into space blankly. He hoped that they hadn’t just signed her a death sentence by removing her from that room.

“Yes. She hasn’t said anything, and she needs medical attention, though I have no idea where in this place Hawke has gone to.”

“Ah, last I saw him he was staring slaw-jawed at a room that held nearly 40 buckets of fresh blood.” Varric started fiddling with a pouch. “I have a drink here that Blondie made up earlier, might give her the energy she needs to get back to the clinic.”

“Good idea. I’ll see if I can find those two idiots to let them know that we need to get her –“ His voice was drowned out as a high pitched shrieking filled the space around him. He immediately put his hands to his ears and looked between Varric and the girl. “What did you do?!”

Varric had dropped the potion to cover his own ears, yelling to be heard over the screaming. “Nothing! I got the bottle out and walked towards her and now she’s doing her damnest to impersonate a Nug being slaughtered!”

The girl had flailed, throwing herself back along the seat as far as she could go until she landed on the floor with a loud _thump_. Her scream was momentarily cut off before it started again while she scrambled backwards. Fenris forced his hands off his ears and walk in front of Varric, blocking him from her view. “Hey. Hey! It’s ok. He was trying to help it’s alri—“

She was still screaming and curled into a ball when Anders rushed past him. “What the flaming hell have you two done?”

“We didn’t do anything! Don’t go near her!”

“She needs healing, blood is coming from her arms look!” Anders raised his hands and magic started glowing softly from his palms. Her eyes locked on his hands and she started sobbing while she was screaming and Fenris could clearly hear one word through the noise.

“No!! No no no no no no no!!! NO!”

She couldn’t back away any farther and whatever Anders was saying to the girl was doing nothing but make her freak out more. Fenris made a snap decision and grabbed the coat in front him. He launched the mage to the ground behind him and moved to crouch in front of her, once again preventing her from seeing the others in the room. “I understand. Hey! I understand, I won’t let them touch you. Please stop screaming.” He repeated his words over and over until the only sounds coming from her was sniffling and soft whimpers. Her hands were over her head and she stared at him through tears and ripped cloth. “It’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Well. I’m guessing she’s afraid of mages.”

The elf turned briefly to stare at Varric with a “No shit”, then returned to calm the terrified girl down.

“So….how are we going to get her back to Kirkwall?” Varrics question was met with a groan from Anders, a nervous chuckle from Hawke and a quiet sigh from Fenris. The girl remained in her position on the floor, not taking her eyes off the elf in front of her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_“I would drown us in blood to keep you safe.”_

Anders ducked behind one of the beds in the clinic, just barely dodging the cup that was thrown in his direction. “Now there’s no need for that. Just let me—“A plate was thrown this time and he flinched as it crashed into the wall behind him, shards dancing around on the floor. He groaned and peeked over the top of the mattress to glance at his patient at the end of the room. “Please don’t throw anythi—ACKH!” A book whizzed past his ear and he took a deep breath. This was ridiculous. He was hiding in his own clinic from a girl who couldn’t even stand properly. _‘Where the hell was Hawke when he was needed? Or Fenris for that matter?’_ He closed his eyes to keep calm and dashed to stand around the corner, just as another book hit him in the head.

“OH FOR THE LOVE OF ANDRASTE!” He rubbed his head and listened for any indication of the girl throwing anything else. Maybe if she couldn’t see him… He inched to the edge of the corner. _Thunk. Thunk._ Nope okay that wasn’t going to work. Two more books flew past and if he had moved any further out then he would probably have a bloody nose by now. _‘Come on, think Anders!’_ He sighed and raised his voice a fraction. “You know, I’m only trying to help you!”

“NO!”

“Oh so you CAN speak. Brilliant. Wish you would say something other than the word no,” he muttered. He heard movement from the area she was in. “Please do not try to stand! You’re still very weak and I’m sure Hawke will be back any seco—“

“NO!!!”

“Ok, ok. No Hawke. Can I at least help you get some water?”

“NO!!!”

Anders was very quickly losing patience. “Look I understand that you’re afraid, and probably confused but you really need to understand that –“

“NO NO NO NO!”

“Alright I get it. No. All you say is No. I’m sure you and Fenris will have a lovely conversation consisting of simply that one word.”

Silence. Anders raised an eyebrow. Had she decided to stop yelling now? _‘I really hope they come back soon. I can’t help her if she won’t let me even in her sight.’_ He slid down to sit on the floor. “You know. It’s terribly uncomfortable here. I would really like it if I was allowed back into my clinic.”

“No.”

“Yes well I do have other things to do. I can’t sit here all day and listen to you say ‘no’ over and over again.”

“No.” Her voice was getting weaker.

“Lovely.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. This was getting nowhere. Why had he agreed when Hawke suggested leaving the girl here while she was passed out? Why the hell had Fenris agreed? He had been adamant that neither of the mages go anywhere near her the entire trip back to Kirkwall. He guessed Marian had something to do with that. “Right well I guess all we’re going to do is wait here quietly and uncomfortably until Hawke an—“

“NO!” The yell sounded painful.

He grit his teeth. “Until Hawke and Fenris come back.” Nothing else was heard and Anders rested his throbbing head on his knees. _‘Dammit hurry up and come back.’_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So I was thinking.”

“That's unusal. Did it hurt?”

“Fenris why are you so mean to me?”

“It’s my favorite way to pass the time.”

Hawke crossed his arms and scowled. “Uh-huh. Well. Anyway. She needs a place to stay.”

“Yes, most likely. I doubt she can stay at the clinic.”

“Dammit that’s where I was going to suggest putting her.”

“You’re a very special kind of idiot aren’t you?”

“You’re so unbelievably rude!”

“Varric says that it’s my best quality and it makes the ladies swoon.”

“You realize that Varric literally gets paid to make things up right?”

“This hurts me.”

“No it doesn’t. BACK TO THE IMPORTANT ISSUE. Where is she going to stay? I mean. There’s plenty of spare rooms at the estate but—“

“That is a terrible idea.”

“Well then what? The Hanged Man? Avelines’ house? No wait. Scratch that. Aveline would never agree to that.”

“Hawke why do—“

_THU-WHACK!_ “OH MY FREAKIN OW WHAT THE HECK?!”

Fenris could only blink in surprise as a book was thrown through the doorway of Anders clinic, smacking Hawke right in the nose. He didn’t have to take too long to figure out where it had come from, as Anders rushed through the door mere seconds before another book was hurled through. _‘Well she has good aim for a half dead human.’_ He snorted, watching Hawke hold his nose and glare at the offending book while spewing all manner of profanity. Anders was doing his best to explain what was going on but really all the Elf heard was a long string of whining littered with “Are you okay?” as he tried to heal Hawkes nose through all the squirming and cursing. Fenris chuckled while picking up the two books and walking inside the clinic.

The girl was sitting on one of the beds with another book raised to defend herself when she saw him walk in calmly. Slowly she lowered the book while keeping a suspicious eye on the door. Fenris gave a small smile and placed the two books he had on the bed next to her, moving to sit in one of the chairs.

“Did he try to use magic on you?”

The girl grimaced and shook her head with a soft “no.”

“Ah. Then why did you throw books at him? Don’t get me wrong, I’m overjoyed that you gave that mage a hard time. And it was very amusing watching Hawke get hit in the face. But still. If they didn’t touch you then there’s not really any need to throw things at them, is there?” He spoke in a soft voice, not harsh or stern. He spoke to her as if they were simply having a normal conversation.

The girl scrunched up her face in thought while staring at the book in her hand. Biting her lip a few times with a frown she finally shook her head at his question. The books got set in a neat pile at the end of the bed, still within range for defence and yet far enough away that she would not throw them automatically.

Fenris smiled at her again. _‘Just have to keep her calm I guess.’_ He leaned forward and started talking to her in the same soft voice about various things. _‘Don’t treat her like an animal or a leper. Treat her like a normal person. Who has survived being sacrificed in a blood ritual. No problem.’_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Anders was watching into the clinic while speaking to Hawke. Fenris had somehow managed to calm the girl down and convince her to move the books away from her immediate throwing range. That was good. Maybe now he actually had a chance of going inside. He checked on Hawkes nose before standing. It had stopped bleeding now, and there would only be a few bruises around the nose that would show what had happened.

“Hey why the hell didn’t she throw a damn book at Fenris? That’s really not fair.”

Anders sighed. “It’s probably because he’s not a mage.”

“Well that’s just plain rude. I helped save her too.” Hawke was pouting and Anders simply shook his head and walked into the clinic with a deep breath.

The girl had begun watching them as soon as they came into view, but she made no move to throw things. _‘That is a very good sign’_. Anders couldn’t hear what Fenris was saying to her but whatever it was, it was working because she only slightly tensed as they walked closer. He watched as the elf reached forward and put his hand on top of hers for a moment. She didn’t relax but she did give a small nod. Fenris turned to the two mages.

“She’s going to let you bandage her. But no magic.”

Anders clicked his tongue. “It would be easier and more efficient to cast a healing spell.”

Fenris stood and crossed his arms. “No magic.”

Putting his hands up in defeat the mage went to get the equipment he would need. Hawke simply sat at one of the tables and watched quietly. _‘Well that’s surprising. He almost never shuts up.’_ When he had everything he needed he went back to where the girl was sitting. Out of the corner of his eye he saw another person enter the clinic. He didn’t have to guess who it was, however, as Hawke immediately jumped up.

“Marian! I thought you were busy today?” The man wrapped one arm around his sisters shoulders and grinned. She sighed in response and pushed his arm off of her to walk over to where Anders and Fenris were sitting with the girl.

“I made time. Fenris told me you rescued someone from blood mages and I figured I should come down here to try and help. Can’t leave in the hands of you idiots.” She stopped walking to turn back and squint her eyes at Hawke. “What the hell happened to your face?”

Hawke was going to respond but Fenris spoke up before he had a chance. “He got hit in the face with a book while he was walking in to the clinic. It appears that this girl has quite good aim.”

Marian laughed. “Ah you look ridiculous brother. But good. I’m glad _someone_ finally smacked you good.”

“That is really hurtful Marian.”

“You’ll get over it. Now.” The woman pulled a chair in front of the girl and sat in a relaxed position. The girl watched wearily. “I’m Marian. It’s nice to meet you, Fenris told me all about how brave you’ve been.” Anders turned out the rest of whatever Marian was saying. She was doing the same thing that Fenris had done, talking to the girl in a calm and friendly tone, and it made his job of bandaging her much easier.

Cleaning the cuts on her arms made her flinch numerous times; and he noticed that she was forcing herself to not move and keep her eyes off of him and what he was doing. _‘Understandable I guess; still, at least she isn’t throwing things or screaming anymore.’_ Her wounds were fairly deep, they would take a long time to heal without magic and they would most likely give her a bunch of twisting scars. The chafes and bruises around her wrists would be gone in a week if she was careful, and he didn’t want to examine the marks on her neck too much in case she started freaking out again. He was in the middle of wrapping a bandage around one of her arms when he felt it.

Justice stirred uncomfortably, and there was an odd sensation coming from his hands. _‘What is this… Is it residual?’_ Carefully, so as not to alert her, he concentrated on the feeling coming from his hands. The more he tried to ‘feel’ it, the more confusing it became. The sounds of the clinic died around him as he listened to a barely there hum. He pushed slightly and felt Justice pushing as well; pushed until he was snapped back into awareness by a rough armoured hand grabbing his arm and shoving him back. “What the…”

“I told you NO magic!”

“But I didn’t use….magic….” Anders looked down at his hands and blinked in surprise at the small glowing that had started. _‘But I didn’t use magic. What is going…..Wait a minute I know what this is.’_ He looked back at the girl who was curled up on the ground behind the bed. Fenris and Marian were both crouching near her, speaking softly and giving him occasional confused glares. “She’s a mage.”

Hawke walked forward. “Are you sure about that? Because she seems to be everything opposite of a mage to me.”

He nodded and spoke firmly when the two warriors looking at him stood with the girl. “I’m sure. I’m more than sure. She has magic inside her. I thought it was residual magic from the ritual those blood mages were casting but no. When I was bandaging her wounds I could feel it. It’s repressed but it’s definitely there.” He felt Justice growing restless. The girl refused to look at him.

Marian spoke up. “Is it possible she didn’t know? Or maybe the magic you felt is dormant?”

He shook his head. “No. It’s not dormant, though I can’t say for sure how much training she’s had. I only know that she definitely has magic, and she definitely would know about it.”

“Maybe she’s an apostate. Ran from a circle somewhere outside the Free Marches? I haven’t heard of any missing mages of her description from the Templars here.” Hawke started pacing when the girl started crying.

“No.” She was starting to breathe heavily and put her head in her hands.

Marian wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “No? You’re not an apostate?”

The girl shook her head and Marian helped her to sit down. “Were you in a circle?” A nod. “And you didn’t run away?” Another nod and she pulled her head up sniffling. Anders noticed that her face was scrunched and she kept reaching up to grab her hair. _‘She’s in pain. But why?’_ Marian stroked her arm and Fenris sat in front of her.

“Did the mages we found you with take you from the circle?”

The girl bit her lip and frowned. She seemed confused and continued to reach up to twist her hand in her hair. She nodded and then shook her head. Then she simply stopped and groaned, sounding more frustrated than anything.

Anders tapped the table thoughtfully. “Maybe she doesn’t remember.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Three days had passed since the incident in the clinic. It had been decided that the girl would stay in one of the many spare rooms in the mansion Fenris lived in. Aveline was going to do what she could to find a house for the girl but it was extremely difficult considering they didn’t even have a name for her. Marian had been spending half her time helping Sebastian and the other half helping Fenris. From what Hawke had told Anders, the room they picked for the girl was now clean, had new furniture and had over a dozen new clothes and books for the girl. Anders wasn’t sure if the books were for her to read or if they were simply giving her a way to defend herself.

As for Anders, he was working near around the clock. Between running the clinic, helping Hawke on various things in town and puzzling together the seemingly random notes from the ritual he was exhausted. And getting nowhere but spinning around in even more questions than he had when he had started. The notes in the potion book had been the only somewhat clear piece of information he could find.

They had definitely been fiddling around with potion recipes, mainly health ones. Some of them had been changed with spells, some made with pots covered in runes. Some had ingredients added, some had ingredients taken out and a few of them appeared to be simply multiple recipes combined into one batch. Judging by the comments littering the pages, however, none of them produced the desired effect. _‘But what was the desired effect?’_ The only other pages not written in code were rambling lines that gave him a headache when he tried to read them. _‘Time to get desperate.’_

He gathered up everything he had been studying. After three days with almost no progress, it was time to consult a blood mage.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Well, I’m glad you’re asking me for help but I’m not sure I can really tell you anything.”

“That’s fine Merrill. It’s just…these notes don’t make any sense to me and hopefully another set of eyes can help reveal something I don’t see.”

She tapped the side of her jaw in thought. “You said that there were some notes that were coded?”

“Yes, but Hawke and I can’t tell what sort of code they could use. We didn’t recognise any symbols or letters used on the pages.” He dug around in the bag and laid the pages out side by side on the table. “These are the notes. I imagine that if they’re in code it must be something important.”

“Alright I’ll have a look.”

Anders nodded and set out the books that he was going to look through. Most of them contained simple spells like keeping food fresh for long periods of time, or pages of history of certain areas. A few coded notes scattered the books but Anders hoped that simply seeing which pages held notes and which ones didn’t would give him a clue about what they were trying to achieve. The two mages continued in silence for a number of hours before Anders dropped his head with a groan.

“Are you alright Anders? Would you like some tea?”

He sighed and turned his head to the side to look at her. He was so exhausted. “Actually yeah I think I will. Thank you.”

“No trouble at all, I’ll go put a pot on and you take a break. You look like you haven’t slept in weeks.” As Merrill made tea she babbled on about various things and Anders closed his eyes, listening to her voice but not really registering the words. None of the information they had made any sense. This piece didn’t fit with that piece, and those pieces made that piece redundant. It was maddening, going around in circles like this with no end in sight. There was a cup put in front of him and he raised his head, giving a tired nod in thanks.

“You really should take a break every now and then, Anders. It’s not healthy to be running nonstop for so long.”

 

He bit back the comment on his mind about her not really being the best judge over what is and isn’t healthy for someone. He still needed her help and even though Merrill wasn’t likely to turn away someone in need, he didn’t want to risk it. He simply drank is tea in silence until there was knock at the door. Merrill stopped him from getting up.

“I’ll get it. It is my house after all, it would rude to send my guest to answer the door.” She chuckled and walked away. _‘Must be some inside joke or something.’_ Anders rubbed his eyes and opened the book in front of him again to have another look.

“Ah so you are here after all. Aveline said you would be.” Hawke plopped down in the chair next to him. “Still trying to figure out our Tevinter mystery?”

 

Anders raised an eyebrow but didn’t look up from the book. “How did Aveline know I was here?”

“Oh you know, guards talk. Plus I’m pretty sure she’s using her position as Guard Captain to keep tabs on all of us.” He waved his hand dismissively and pulled one of the books over to him. “I never really saw the point in blood magic. So messy. Also risky. No offense Merrill.”

“None taken Hawke.” The elf smiled warmly and Anders wondered if there was anything Hawke could possibly say that she _would_ take offense too.

“Anyway. It’s silly really. What could possibly be so important that a mage would resort to bleeding a person dry and risk becoming possessed?”

Anders rested his head on a hand and sighed. “I don’t know Hawke. A family member, maybe? Or someone you’re in love with? Freedom? Who knows.”

Hawke thought a moment. “I’m still not sure I could ever do that. I mean…I’d sacrifice a lot to protect someone but –“

“Wait a minute.”

Both stopped to look up at Merrill who was staring intently at the coded notes in front of her. Anders frowned. “What is it Merrill.”

The elf bit her lip and seemed to bounce up and down. “Um. What if it’s not a code?” At the blank looks the guys gave her she leaned on the table and pushed the notes to the middle. “What if….what if it’s blood magic hiding what is written here? And maybe that’s why neither of you could make sense of it?”

Anders leaned back silently and Hawke whistled before nodding. “Well. I mean it would make sense. But haven’t you been looking at these notes for hours? You’re a blood mage and you still can’t read them.”

“Yes. But I haven’t done any blood magic on them.”

“So you’re saying that if you use blood magic you might be able to figure out what the pages say?”

“Well. I don’t know. I mean it could be that a particular spell was used, and only that spell will unlock it. But yes. There’s a chance that simply usin—“

“Absolutely not.” Anders said a bit too loud for the small house, shocking the two other mages.

“Anders what if –“

“No Merrill. We are not fixing a blood magic problem with more blood magic.”

Hawke put a hand on Anders shoulder which was immediately shoved off. “Look, I know it’s not ideal but think of it like fighting fire with fire.”

“I’d rather just leave this entire thing in the ashes if our only hope of solving it is to resort to that disgusting act.”

“And then we might never have answers for that poor girl. She might have a family out there who misses her, they might think she is dead!”

“She’s a mage Hawke, and a mage from the circle. She doesn’t have any family anymore or she wouldn’t have been in there in the first place.”

“Anders that’s not necessarily true.”

“What would you know? You’ve never even been to a circle! She’s better off not remembering.”

“Anders!”

“I’m not going to do this!”

“You won’t have to.” Hawke and Anders turned towards Merrill just in time to see her pull a knife out and make a cut on her palm. She whispered something quickly and small tendrils of blood poured out, seeking the pages. Anders moved to grab the notes but was stopped by Hawke. Justice was pushing inside of him, writhing in anger.

“Anders. Please. We need to help her. You want to help your fellow mages right? All of them?”

He punched the table and stalked off to the other room, refusing to see or hear any more.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So basically, it was an unsealing ritual. I don’t know what they were trying to unseal, the notes were incomplete. But whatever it was, it required a willing sacrifice.”

Anders stood quietly by the door of the mansion while Hawke spoke quickly to Fenris about what they had discovered. _‘I can’t believe I just let that happen. I can’t believe I let him convince me to come here. I can’t believe what that poor girl went through.’_ He was relieved that they had some answers at least. But he was almost certain that if he hadn’t gone to Merrill, and simply spent more time working on them he would have found a different way to get the information. Hawke didn’t seem to mind in the slightest and had dragged him over to the mansion almost immediately. They had even dragged Varric with them, who had been strangely quiet through the debriefing.

“A willing sacrifice?”

“Yeah. They probably couldn’t get her to go alone with their plans so that’s why they were trying to make a potion that would ‘convince’ her. The notes were a bit vague on what exactly they were doing but um….fairly descriptive in _how_ they were doing it. It was basically a record of their progress, not the ritual itself. We have no idea where that is.”

Anders stepped forward. “There’s more. And it’s….” he sighed. How was he going to word this? “Remember how we found that room with the buckets of blood?”

“36 buckets to be exact.” Varric walked to sit on one of the benches. “What about it Blondie? Did you figure out where the bodies are?”

“That’s just it. There are no bodies. All that blood, every drop, was hers”

Fenris and Varric stared at him in silence for a moment. Fenris was the first to speak. “That’s impossible.”

Varric snorted. “Don’t ever become an author, you are terrible at making up stories. Stick to your ‘mages rights soapbox’.”

He grit his teeth and chose to ignore that comment. “I didn’t want to believe it either. Normally, it’s very impossible. But they apparently needed a certain amount of blood from a willing sacrifice. And the blood all needed to be from the same bloodline, and fresh. I’m going to take a guess and say that she doesn’t have any family members. They had adjusted spells to keep the blood fresh, and had been taking as much as possible without killing her for a long time.”

Nobody said anything. Anders was looking anywhere but at the faces that were staring at him and Hawke eventually cleared his throat awkwardly. “Sooooo. Yeah. Well that’s why she was there. Still no clue who she is though. Probably doesn’t really matter now; I doubt the circle will take her back even if we explain the whole ‘kidnapped by Tevinter mages and tortured for Maker knows how long’ thing.”

“All that blood… how long was she there for?” Fenris’ expression was a mixture between horrified and enraged. “Does it tell you how long she was there for?”

 

Anders shook his head. “No. We could probably figure it out eventually, or she could tell us when she remembers. But the pages didn’t have any dates on them nor did they have any indication of how long any of this took. We did find out that they were almost done with the ritual. They only needed a bit more blood, and for her to be willing and they would have succeeded. Its lucky we got there when we did.”

Hawke gave a dry laugh. “Yeah, lucky we didn’t ignore that crazy drunk noble babbling on about some Tevinter mages acting shady outside of town.”

Fenris gave him a blank stare. “You were going to ignore him. I was the one who told you we should investigate.”

 

“Details, details. Anyway we still don’t know what to do with her or who she is. Has she said anything to you?”

Fenris shook his head. “No. Marian and I have tried everything to get her to talk, but she still won’t speak. We don’t even know what to call her, it seems a bit rude to just call her ‘girl’ all the time.”

“We could give her a name. Varric? Any suggestions?”

“Hawke. I’m pretty sure she already has a name.”

“I mean, just until she tells us what it is.”

“Runa.”

Everyone was stunned into silence again when a soft voice came from the staircase. They all turned to look at the girl who, despite being tense and clearly uncomfortable, was walking slowly to stand beside Fenris.

“What did you say?” Anders asked, despite the way she flinched at his voice.

She clenched her fist and cleared her throat. “My name…is Runa.”


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
"And the trend of you scaring the piss out of me continues."

Varric looked over the messages from his various contacts. Trying to find where Runa had come from had sounded like an easy task, until he actually started trying. Hawke had been correct in assuming that she wasn’t from the Kirkwall circle; and none of the circles close by were missing any mages by the name of ‘Runa’ either. She hadn’t mentioned a family name, nor had she given them any information on who exactly she was, despite becoming more and more talkative. All they really knew for sure, after 2 weeks of looking, was that she was a mage from a circle and had been taken. ‘And she had been captive for a while, months, maybe a year. Do Templars even still search for lost mages if they can’t find them in such a long time? Or do they presume the mage to be dead. Might ask Blondie how long he was running from the Templars for.’

One message had a list of mages gone missing in the past 6 months; nothing matching Runa though. Another held suspicious activity possibly linked to the Tevinter mages all over the Free Marches. ‘What the bloody hell were they doing all the way out here?’ Two messages apologizing with no information. Varric sighed. This was getting nowhere and his drink was almost completely gone. 

Right when he was about to exit the room to get another drink there was a knock at the door. Varric raised an eyebrow at the timing and opened the door with a smile. He was a little surprised, however, at who was standing on the other side.

“Marian! This is…odd. What brings you to The Hanged Man so late at night? Have you finally decided to profess your undying love to the gorgeous dwarf who lives here?” He grinned up at the woman and she shook her head with a fond smile.

“Unfortunately, not this time Varric. I’m not here for me.” From behind her a head of red hair peeked out and nervous eyes watched him steadily. His eyebrows shot up but he recovered quickly and opened the door wider. 

“Hello Runa. I was just about to get a drink, don’t suppose you drink ale?” She shook her head and he chuckled. “Nah I didn’t think so.” 

“Runa had a request she would like to make of you.” 

They began walking down to the bar and Varric hummed. “Did she now? I’m giving you fair warning, I don’t lend out Bianca, I don’t do anything with children or animals, and if I show you the manuscripts my agent will literally kill me.” He leaned against the bar and grinned at the ladies. “Other than that, what can I do for you?”

Runa blinked at him. “Bianca?”

“Oh! Right you don’t know Bianca. She’s a one of a kind,” he said with a wink. Marian sighed and sat at a table, crossing her legs.

“Bianca is his crossbow.”

Varric clicked his tongue. “Now see, this is why despite our deep love for each other, it simply wouldn’t work out between us. You just don’t have the right amount of flair, my dear.”

“Sadly my idiot brother got all the ‘flair’ in the family. Mother and I are absolutely heartbroken we will never throw quite a show like he does. I’m sure you two will be quite happy together, however. If you can manage to separate him from his boyfriend.”

He joined Marian at the table and took a long gulp of his drink. “Hmmm I don’t think anyone is worth a fireball to the face.”

Runa looked incredibly worried. ‘I guess spending all her time with Fenris means that she doesn’t get exposed to the humour around here very often.’ Varric cleared his throat. “Sorry, bad jokes are kind of what I’m paid for. Anyway what was your request, Nug?”

Marian snorted and Runa carefully sat at the table with them, still keeping a healthy distance between her and Varric. “….My name is Runa.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Why did you call me Nug?”

“Ah. Well. When you screamed at me when we found you it reminded me of a nug. And while everyone was running around trying to figure out what to call you, I just sorta gave you the nickname Nug.”

Marian smiled and looked over at Runa. “He does that with everyone. He calls me Killer and my brother Chuckles. Fenris is Broody but I think if you call him that he will most likely lock himself in a room with a bottle of wine and pout.” 

Runa nodded slowly and turned back to Varric. “I’d like you teach me.”

He was silent for a moment, waiting for her to clarify. When she didn’t he took another drink. “Teach you…what exactly?”

“You’re a rogue, right?”

“Well….yeah, I am. But –“

“Can you teach me?”

He studied her face carefully. ‘Is she serious? She’s a mage, why would she want to know how to be a rogue?’ “It’s not really something you learn overnight, kiddo.”

“I’m not a kid.”

“Oh well see. I didn’t know that. I don’t know how old you are. Or anything about you really, like why, for example, you could possibly want to know what I know.”

She looked down with a frown and spoke softly. He had lean his ear closer to hear properly. “I don’t ever want to use my magic again.” 

Leaning back with loud exhale Varric look at Marian. The woman shrugged and stayed silent. ‘Is this Fenris’ influence? Or is it Tevinter?’ He picked his drink up and Runa looked up in alarm as he stood and started walking back to his room. “I think this is something better discussed in private. You can tell me all about it in here, Nug.”

“I’m not a nug.”

He chuckled.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Runa began coming to the hanged man more often after making her request. Sometimes Fenris would accompany her but most of the time Marian was with her. Fenris got too worried about her pushing herself while training, Marian said, and only came along if the woman couldn’t. Runa herself didn’t seem to care much about who brought her, as long as she got there on time. 

The girl turned out to be a terrible aim with a bow, which is what Varric had started her with. After a few sessions she finally asked to learn something else, giving up the weapon entirely. Strangely enough her aim with throwing knives was fairly good. Varric thought this was probably due to the amount of books she threw at Anders and Hawke when they got too close to her. He tried to teach her how to use a pair of daggers, but eventually decided that Isabela was better suited to training her with those and focused more on improving her reflexes and stealth. 

He brought the idea up to her one evening while she was reading a book on poisons and antidotes. 

“I know someone who can teach you how to use daggers.”

Runa looked up from the book and stared impassively at him. She remained silent for a while and Varric decided to just continue talking. Her conversation skills still needed a bit of work. 

“She’s a pirate. And a rogue. And she’s pretty damn good with blades.”

Marian chuckled. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

She raised an eyebrow while Runa remained silent, watching the exchange. “Well for one, she’s going to ask for payment. You know how she is with gold.”

He snorted. “You really think she’s that shallow?”

“I KNOW she’s that shallow.”

Clicking his tongue and then sighing, Varric crossed his arms. “Well. I can probably deal with the payment bit then. Nug won’t last long on her own with just the basics.”

“I’m not a nug. What’s her name?”

Marian got up to pace the room. “Her name is Isabela, and while I don’t think this is a good idea, if you want to ask her to train you I won’t stop you. Fenris might get cranky though, he was relieved when he found out you weren’t going to be using daggers.”

“He worries too much.” A small smirk appeared on Runas’ face and quickly disappeared to be replaced with the blank expression she always wore. “I want to learn.”

“Runa he has good reason to worry…”

“I’ll be fine. Varric when can I meet her?”

He sighed and thought quickly. “I’m surprised you haven’t met her yet, to be completely honest. I honestly thought she would have snuck into your room or cornered you on your way here. But for some reason she’s been nowhere to be seen when you’re around. I’ll find out why and sort out payment before I give you an answer.”

The girl seemed satisfied with that answer and went back to reading. Marian stopped pacing and shook her head with a defeated sigh. “I still say this is a bad idea.”

“Oh don’t worry so much, you’ll get wrinkles. I’m sure Runa and Isabela will get along just fine.”

The woman sat and mumbled, “It’s not Isabela I’m worried about.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It took a couple days for Varric to run into the “infamous pirate woman”, as Runa had taken to calling her. It seems that Fenris had had a lot to say when he found out about Runa training with Isabela. This didn’t deter their friend in the slightest, in fact Varric was almost certain that it made her even more excited. ‘Seems she has a bit of a rebellious streak in her; noble family then?’ He made a mental note to find records of any nobles kids the same age and appearance of Runa. He had pretty much eliminated the possibility that she was from anywhere in or around Kirkwall, which didn’t seem to help the search at all. If anything it just brought up more questions. He had even looked into her maybe being from Tevinter but when he asked about it Runa looked like she would throw up and hadn’t spoken to anyone for the rest of the day. She either wasn’t from Tevinter, or was extremely ashamed to be. 

Isabela didn’t seem to care where she was from. Nor did she really care about the fact that Runa wanted training. She was, however, very interested in the payment that Varric offered. ‘Now for the fun bit.’ He had offered to buy her a drink and sat her down to discuss the … details of training Runa.

“You aren’t allowed to be alone with her, either Fenris or Marian will be with you two while you’re training.”

“Oh come on Varric, Fenris hates me and Marian always makes some comment on my sex life. Always. She never shuts up about it. It’s like she’s gone all strict and boring since she got involved with that Chantry prince.”

“He has a name you know.”

“I don’t care, you know.”

He sighed and took a few mouthfuls quickly. “Second, Runa doesn’t quite understand the humour we have just yet. She’s picking some things up but she lives with a broody elf and most of our jokes…make her anxious I think.”

“You’re paying me to teach her how to stab people and you’re worried about me having a potty mouth? She survives being around you and Hawke.”

“Barely.” He snorted. “There’s one more thing, and you’re not going to like it.”

She squinted her eyes at him but didn’t say anything. That probably meant he was going to have to increase the payment.

“You can’t mention Merrill. At all. Ever.”

Isabela raised an eyebrow, finished her drink and looked at him with eyes that challenged him to say something to piss her off. “And do tell me, what is so wrong with me talking about my girlfriend? She is, after all, my girlfriend.”

“Because Daisy, as lovable as she is, is a blood mage. And if Fenris has said anything to her about Merrill it would be that. I don’t know if he has said anything but just in case. She is finally starting to calm down around well, everyone. We don’t need her to have a breakdown because we hang out with blood mages and her soon-to-be teacher is sleeping with one.”

The pirate growled. Literally growled. Varric was starting to fear for his family jewels when she stood up, but she simply grabbed her empty cup and left to get another drink. ‘Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I suppose there might be someone else in town I can pay, but that’s a bit risky. Who knows who they could turn out to be? Plus Runa is very excited to meet her. Then again Fenris and Marian will be relieved if this doesn’t work ou—‘

“I’ll do it. But I’m gonna need Marian to convince Carver to do something for me.”

“You’ll have to take that up with her, I can’t make deals on her behalf.”

She nodded. “I understand. So don’t take her into dark alleyways alone, censor my hilarious mouth and don’t mention the gorgeous Elf that I shack up with almost every night. I think I can handle that.”

Varric was relieved. It had been risky asking Isabela to do anything ever since the whole thing with the Qunari happened. No one said anything but everyone was waiting for another figuratively/not so figuratively knife in the back from her. They finished their drinks while conversing about several trivial things.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Runa began training almost immediately. No one wanted to know what sort of ‘favour’ Isabela needed from Carver of all people, but whatever happened it was enough to convince Isabela to train the girl and be on her best behaviour. For nearly 3 months Runa was meeting up with the woman almost daily, eager to learn and get stronger. And apparently she was improving very quickly. Varric had taught her a few basics of moving lightly and quickly but training with Isabela had her almost literally blending into the shadows. She had also picked out her own pair of daggers, paid for by none other than the ‘infamous pirate lady’ herself. According to Marian, Runa also had found out absolutely nothing about Merrill other than her name and that Isabela was with her. Fenris had apparently refused to speak about the elf and Marian had simply told her that it was private and rude to ask too many questions. Runa had left it at that.

During one of their training sessions Isabela was training her in the many ways of distraction. Marian had been polishing her sword by the field when Isabela had yelled in worry. She immediately dropped her weapon and ran to where Runa had collapsed on the ground. Her head was in her hands and she was sweating but making no sound; Marian couldn’t see her face underneath the pile of red hair. Angry eyes glared up at Isabela.

“What the flaming hell did you do?!”

“What?? I didn’t DO anything! I was talking to her and suddenly she just…I dunno fell down or something. Why does EVERYONE assume when something goes wrong it’s my fault?” The woman had begun to pace with her arms crossed and an agitated look on her face.

“Because it usually is!!” Marian was getting too angry and turned to the girl on the ground. “Runa? What’s wrong? Do you need me to get Fenris? Runa?!”

“Great. Bring the king of brooding here to yell at me. THAT will make things sooooo much better.”

“Why don’t you just shut up, whore.”

“Ouch. Bringin’ out the sex insults. Sorry darling but I’m not getting paid for the things I do in bed. Though it sounds like that’s what you need, does your prince charming even so much as kiss you?”

“Leave him out of this!”

The two continued bickering while Runa started shaking.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“…and one day maybe even to Seheron. I’ve always been fascinated by the Qunari customs.”

Runa shook her head with a small grin. “Don’t be ridiculous. You know they don’t accept ‘tourists’. They would probably try and convert you; and I highly doubt you would survive living under their strict rules. You’re just too wild and free.”

“You worry way too much for someone so young.” A light laugh and then a sigh. “Of course none of this matters, I suppose. I’m going to be sent to the Chantry soon and you…well you…”

“You can say it,” Runa put her arm around the person next to her. “It’s not like I’m dying. It’s just the circle. And mother even said that eventually I can come and visit.”

“Still… it won’t be the same without you. Who’s going to swap places with me when I don’t feel like playing the noble?”

Runa sighed. “And who will I get to eat my carrots when mother isn’t looking?”

“See? You shouldn’t be sent away for something that you didn’t choose. This is stupid this whole thing is stupid…” The voice was choking up. “Sorry. I said I wouldn’t cry but…”

She leaned her head on a shoulder and stroked her hand on an arm, trying to reassure the both of them. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”

“You can’t promise that.”

\----

Wide eyes stared up in wonder at the woman as she spoke of faraway lands, giving small glimpses into the family that lived generations before she was even born. “Will we ever go back, mama?”

“Maybe one day my sweet. But for now, you need to sleep.”

“But I want to know more!”

The woman sighed and placed a kiss on a small forehead. “One day you will know everything. I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Do you promise mama?”

“I promise, Runa. Go to bed. I love you.”

\----

“You’re welcome here anytime, Runa. We’ll take care of everything, so if you ever need to just know…”

Runa pulled away from hugging a man and woman. “I know mother, father. I’ll be okay. I’m excited to learn.” She smiled and turned to hug the next person.

“You better make it to my wedding. Maker knows I can’t face these ‘Vints all by myself.” A slap on the arm was followed by a chuckle and the person turned to the woman next to him **his fiancé** “No offense love.” He turned back to Runa. “Seriously though, you will come to the wedding.” 

“Of course, I won’t miss it for anything. I’ll miss you both so much.” She hugged them both again. “Take care of her, *unintelligible*. She’s the best woman you could ever hope to marry, especially given your snoring.”

“Hey!” They laughed and then Runa turned to the last person, the same height as her. 

Before she could say anything she was wrapped in an extremely tight hug. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

Runa felt her eyes tear up and buried her face in the shoulder in front of her to try and stop crying. “I’m going to miss you too *unintelligible*. Don’t get into too much trouble ok?”

A sniffle and hiccup. “You’re my sister. Don’t ever forget that okay? No matter what. I love you so much, Runa.”

“I love you too.”

\---- 

The carriage was bouncing along and the sun was shining. They were about halfway there and Runa was excited, telling the Templar next to her about the events in the most recent letter. 

“…and then” she had to take a moment to stop laughing. “He stood up covered in mud screaming about how the dog was too smart for its own good and he was better off having a goldfish! The dog was apparently so insulted that he peed on *unintelligible*’s leg!” 

The Templar was laughing so much tears were in his eyes. “Why hasn’t he learned yet not to steal food from a mabari? And to insult it too! Ah he’s something else, that’s for sure.”

She chuckled again. “He will never learn. He’s been trying to outsmart that dog for almost seven years now.”

“Clearly he failing miserably. Though, I think they will miss each other when he goes to Tevinter for the wedding, it’s going to happen in a few years isn’t it?”

“Yeah! They are waiting until I’ve learnt enough to be able to take a couple weeks away from the circle, the Knight Commander said now that I’ve done my harrowing it’ll happen a lot sooner.”

The Templar nodded and beamed at her, his smile almost glowing in the sunlight flittering through the carriage window. “Are you excited to tell your family about passing? I’m surprised you manage to keep this trip a secret from them.”

“It was hard, I wanted to write to them immediately and tell them the good news but I figured it would be better in person and see their reactions. Plus I’m hoping that I’ll catch *unintelligible* trying to outsmart the dog again.”

Runa’s laughter died out at the carriage suddenly jerked to a halt and she would have fell into the front panelling if an arm hadn’t reached out to quickly grab her. She frowned and looked at the Templar. “Uhm…”

He had a worried expression on his face. “That’s weird… we’ve barely passed the halfway mark, and I don’t remember hearing of anything that would warrant a stop.” He bit his lip and picked his sword up. “Stay here and don’t move, hopefully it’s just a fallen tree or something.” He smiled softly to try and calm her and moved to open the door.

Almost the second the door was opened Runa was blinded by light that shouldn’t have been as bright as it had, and the most terrible smell reached her nose. After a moment of shock a scream registered in her ears and her eyesight cleared to reveal her friend being set on fire. She jumped as far back in the seat as she could, screaming, as he rolled on the small floor of the carriage wailing; licks of flame reached the curtains and seat covers and soon the fire spread higher. Runa screamed louder, her panic overcoming any thought process that would tell her what to do. Just before the fire burned her flesh, a hand reached in and yanked her out of the carriage. She landed on the dirt road, her jaw closing so swiftly that her face became numb. She put her head up to look around just as something hit her on the ear. The world went fuzzy and distorted and the last thing she heard was “That shouldn’t have taken so long.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I know you did something to her!”

“I didn’t! All I did was mention Seheron!”

“Why in whatever God you worship did you do that??”

Isabela threw her hands up in exasperation. “Because she wanted to know!!”

Varric scratched his chin and cleared his throat. “Ladies is it really such a good idea to be yelling so loudly?” 

“Shut up Varric, this was a bad idea I told you from the start!”

“Don’t take it out on me!” Varric turned away from the screaming woman to glance at Runa and Fenris. Avelines random guards had gathered them both saying that Runa had apparently collapsed and that the two woman were getting ready to tear each other’s throats out. Or tits. Or spines. He really didn’t know which body part would be disfigured first with these two. “Any luck there Fenris?”

Fenris ignored everything else around them and focused on the girl in front of him. She had been mumbling and sweating like crazy and he had tried to gently shake her by the shoulders. He had spoken softly, loudly, pleading even and Runa had stayed in the exact position. It had only been about two minutes but it felt like hours. “Runa?? Please answer me. We’re all very worried about you Runa. Hello? Run—“

Her head jerked up and a tear streaked face was trembling, staring at him while he breathed in relief that she was finally responding. “Runa! Hey, are you okay? What happened? What’s the matter?”

Her mouth moved a couple times, forming silent words and more tears raced from her eyes. She started breathing heavily and shaking her head, horrified at something he couldn’t even begin to imagine. After a few seconds her voice started working again and he had to concentrate a great deal to work out what she was saying. 

“They killed him. Set him on fire, killed him on the way. They killed my friend. He’s dead oh god oh god ohgodhe’sdead why? I couldn’t do anything. Weak. So useless. He died Fenris he’s dead.”

She was sobbing now and gripping her hair in pain. ‘A memory. She remembers something.’ He held her arms a little tighter, gently making her focus on his voice, face and words. “Runa, calm down. Who’s dead?”

Runas’ breathing reminded him of someone recently surviving drowning. “My…friend. He died and I couldn’t stop it. He was good, Fenris. He was nice he…..” She frowned and her eyes darted around while she tried to remember. “He was a Templar. They killed him, and took me.”


End file.
